In recent years, computer failures and even computer disasters have affected more and more user computers and corporate computers. In some cases, these failures and disasters have been caused by anti-virus software products, such as products that prevent viruses, worms, spyware, phishing, and malware in general.
For example, in 2005 a faulty pattern file of virus signatures was released that caused user computers to consume 100% of their CPU time. In 2007 an anti-virus product released by a major anti-virus service provider produced a false positive result which ended up crippling thousands of personal computers in China. In 2008 another faulty pattern file was released that mistakenly quarantined numerous critical files of an operating system causing the user computers not to boot successfully. And, in 2010 a faulty pattern file was released that deleted a critical operating system file. Releasing faulty pattern files or delivering software products that do not function correctly by an antivirus software provider is especially problematic because the software affects many thousands if not millions of user computers worldwide. Also, the resulting computer failures are generally catastrophic causing the computers, networks and systems not to function at all. Because the antivirus software providers are in a position of trust, releasing faulty software is especially troublesome.
Typically, the failure or disaster is usually caused by the release of a faulty pattern file or a faulty antivirus product update. To date, there have been attempts to solve this problem but they have so far not provided a final solution.
One technique is to quarantine a particular file instead of deleting the file permanently, thus saving the information if the deletion was unintentional. But, even if a file is quarantined rather than deleted, there is no way to access or restore the file if its host computer has failed catastrophically. Another technique is to use the Microsoft operating system “System Restore” function to recover the computer system, but there are many limitations. For example, the user must be knowledgeable about the computer, the restore point may have been set several days previously, and the entire process takes a great deal of time.
Accordingly, a system and technique are desired that would allow a host computer to recover from a failure caused by an antivirus software product that would work reliably and easily for user.